GS Renovation creates open-plan living across Soho and W1, from knock-throughs and kitchen-diners to broken-plan layouts and Crittall dividers. In the area's characterful Victorian and Edwardian terraces and upper-floor apartments, we open up tight period rooms into bright, connected spaces, with more than 30 years of structural experience behind every conversion in Westminster.
Open-plan living in Soho's terraces
The bay-fronted terraces around Soho were laid out as a series of small, separate rooms, so opening them up transforms how a home lives. A classic knock-through joins the front reception to the back, a kitchen-diner brings the closet wing and side return into one flowing space, and a broken-plan scheme uses a part-height wall or a Crittall-style glazed divider to keep zones without losing the light. Each layout starts from what the existing structure allows.
The wall between those period rooms is usually load-bearing, so we do not simply knock it out. Our structural engineer sizes a steel beam to carry the floors above, and it bears onto padstones set into solid masonry at each end. We prop the opening, remove the wall in stages and drop the steel in before the props come out. Crittall dividers and glazed screens are then fitted into the finished, supported opening for that broken-plan feel.
Consents and finish in W1
Because Soho's houses share their walls with the neighbours, the wall you want opened up frequently forms part of the party wall, or the beam bearings cut into it. That makes the work notifiable under the Party Wall Act, so we serve notice on the adjoining owner before we start. In a tightly built W1 street, handling this properly keeps the neighbours comfortable and stops the project being held up by an avoidable dispute.
An open-plan conversion is internal structural work, controlled under the Building Regulations rather than planning permission, so Westminster City Council's building control inspects and certifies the steelwork and fire protection. Planning consent only applies to exterior changes in a conservation area or to a listed building. We run the engineer, party wall notices and building control together, then plaster, level and finish the new space so it feels like it was always one room, with the mess kept firmly under control.
- Broken-plan layouts and Crittall-style dividers
- Structural engineer calculations and building control
- Level flooring and threshold removal across rooms
- Lighting, heating and electrical reconfiguration
- Knock-throughs between reception rooms
The GS Renovation Difference in Soho
For open-plan conversions in Soho, GS Renovation gives you one accountable team from first survey to final finish. We arrange the structural engineer, serve the party wall notices, manage Westminster building control and carry out the propping, steelwork and building work ourselves. You get a correctly supported opening, a clean, connected W1 space and a certified result, backed by more than 30 years of structural experience.
- Free, no-obligation quotations
- Over 30 years of experience
- Dedicated project management
- Fully insured and guaranteed work
- Building control and planning support
- Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople